High resistance nozzle and document separator

ABSTRACT

A nozzle having a throat resistance calculated to be sufficiently high to render fluid flow therethrough substantially constant irrespective of changes in external resistance to such fluid flow is described. The high resistance nozzle is shown as used in a document handling apparatus for separating adjacent documents. A plurality of high resistance nozzles is shown operated from a common fluid pressure source for maintaining a plurality of documents in a spaced-apart relationship.

United States Patent Vos [4 Nov. 20, 1973 [5 HIGH RESISTANCE NOZZLE AND 2,692,024 10/1954 Burdett et al 239/010. 1

DOCUMENT SEPARATOR Primary Examiner--Allen N. Knowles [75] Inventor. Leroy A. Vos, St. Paul, Mmn. Assistant Examiner Gene A Church [73] Assignee: Sperry Rand Corporation, New AttorneyThomas J. Nikolai, Kenneth T. Grace and York, N.Y. John P. Dority 22 F1 d: 15, 1969 1 Jan 57 ABSTRACT [21] Appl. No.: 791,263 A nozzle having a throat resistance calculated to be sufficiently high to render fluid flow therethrough sub- [52] US. Cl ..209/110.5 stantially c n tan irrespective of changes in external 51 lm. Ci. B07c 9/00 resistance to such flui flo is desc ibed. The igh re- [58] Field of Search 209/DIG. 1, 589, sistanee nozzle is shown as se in a umen han- 209/601 1105 805 72 dling apparatus for separating adjacent documents. A plurality of high resistance nozzles is shown operated [56] R f n Cit d from a common fluid pressure source for maintaining UNITED STATES PATENTS a plurality of documents in a spaced-apart relation- 3,292,630 12/1966 Paulus 209 805 Ship 3,447,756 6/1969 Lawrence, Jr. 239/601 7 Claims, 5 Drawing Figures .PIN

' CONTROL PAIENIEnnuvmms 3.773.173

PIN CONTROL PIN CONTROL INVENTOR LEROY A. 05

AT RNEY C4 C3 C2 Cl HIGH RESISTANCE NOZZLE AND DOCUMENT SEPARATOR BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention This invention relates generally to the field of fluid nozzles; and, more, particularily, to the field of nozzles wherein a constant fluid flow is desired irrespective of the external resistance to the fluid flow.

2. Description of the Prior Art Prior art document handlers have recognized the desirability of separating documents that are capable of being selected. Methods of selection known in the prior art are pulling coded support pins, turning selected retaining rods in support slots, and the like. A common problem in the prior art document handling devices has been that the various devices for maintaining the documents separated have been complex, and have not worked properly. The use of fluid, such as air, for separating documents has been known. Prior art devices have had the disadvantage, that the stream of air utilized has tended to be of a nature to cause the docu ments to flutter, thereby abraiding against next adjacent documents, and tending to cause premature destruction of the documents. A second problem in the prior art devices has existed when the documents tend to be bunched or in contact. Such contact arrangement can be encountered when the document handler is first loaded with a new stack of documents, or when the documents are used in a horizontal plane when the document handler is first started up. In either event, there is a tendency for the fluid pressure in the area of the bunched documents to be diverted to the area where no documents are found. Such prior art arrangements have founded virtually impossible to obtain initial separation of the documents and to maintain them separated during operation.

SUMMARY This invention, then, comprises a high resistance fluid nozzle having a construction such that the fluid flow through the nozzle is substantially independent of theresistance to fluid flow external to the nozzle. Further, the invention includes a plurality of high resistance fluid nozzles arranged for use in a document handling apparatus wherein documents are arranged in a side-by-side manner and are removably retained in a stored position. The nozzles are arranged in positions such that fluid will be interjected between adjacent documents for holding the documents in a spaced apart relationship without imparting flutter to the individual documents.

A primary objective of this invention, then, is to provide an improved high resistance nozzle. Yet another object of this invention is to provide a high resistance nozzle wherein the rate of fluid flow is substantially unaffected by external resistance to the fluid flow. Still another object of this invention is to provide an improved high resistance nozzle for use in a document handling apparatus. A further object of this invention is to provide an improved high resistance nozzle for separating adjacent documents in a document handling apparatus without imparting flutter to the documents. Other and more detailed objectives of this invention will become apparent when considering the detailed description of the invention when taken in view of the drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1a is a side view of the high resistance nozzle of this invention;

FIG. 1b is an end view of the high resistance nozzle shown in FIG. la;

FIG. 2 is a diagrammatic view of a plurality of nozzles utilized in a document handling apparatus for separating adjacent documents;

FIG. 3 illustrates the nozzle arrangement of FIG. 2 but with the documents in a stacked together arrangement; and

FIG. 4 is a diagrammatic view of the side of a portion of the document handling apparatus and illustrates characteristic retaining pin and coded hole arrangement for supporting the documents.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT In FIGS. la and 1b there are shown side and end views of the high resistance nozzle of this invention. In these figures there is shown a chamber portion 10 for receiving fluid flow in the direction of arrow 12, and the nozzle throat portion 14 having a length L. The width W and depth D that define the uniform crosssection of the nozzle throat 14 are very small in comparison to and are constant along the length L of the nozzle throat. A characteristic relationship would be a length L of 0.500 inch, a depth D of 0.0010 inch, and a width W of 0.125 inch. It has been determined that fluid, such as air, will flow with a force f,, and be essentially independent of external resistance to the fluid flow with a pressure of approximately pounds per square inch in chamber 10. In other words, in the absence of completely closing off the exhaust end of nozzle throat 14, the subsonic flow of fluid therethrough will be substantially independent of the external resistance which might oppose the flow of fluid.

In FIG. 2 there is shown a diagrammatic arrangement of a plurality of nozzles, labeled N1, N2, N3, utilized in conjunction with a second plurality of documents labeled C1, C2, C3, and C4. A common source of fluid pressure (not shown) provides a fluid flow in the direction of arrow 20 into inlet port 22 where it is directed to manifold 24. The chamber, or manifold, 24 operates as a source of fluid for N1, N2, and N3. It should of course be understood that the number of nozzles Nx can be arbitrarily selected to accommodate the number of documents Cy that are to be maintained in a spaced apart relationship. The documents C1, C2, C3 and C4 are suspended on retaining pins such as pin 26. The operation of the retaining pins will be described in more detail in conjunction with FIG. 4. With the nozzle of this invention, the force of fluid flow from the nozzles, that is, fluid force fl from nozzle N1, fluid force f2 from nozzle N2, and fluid force f3 from nozzle N3 will be substantially identical. In FIGS. 2 and 3, the documents Cl through C4 are illustrated in edge view. It should also be understood, that the dimensions are illustrative only and there is no intention to show a scaled relationship between the nozzle dimensions and the document dimensions.

Turning briefly to FIG. 4, which is a side view of an end-coded document C4 suspended on a plurality of pins 26, which can be thought of as document retaining means. Arrangements of this type are known in the prior art wherein a coded arrangement of holes and slots in the end of a document permit the selection of the predetermined one of the documents by pulling selected suspension pins. For instance, in order to alloy document C4 to drop from the stack, it is necessary to withdraw pin 26, pin 26ll., and pin 26-2. The endcoding for the other documents would be such that by withdrawing these enumerated pins there would be pins retaining the other documents in place. in FIGS. 2 and 3, the pin decoding and selection means is referred to generally as pin control 30, and can be understood to be document selection means.

In FIG. 3 the documents Cl through C are shown in a stacked-together relationship as they might appear when a new set of documents is loaded in the document handling apparatus. in this arrangement, it can be seen that nozzles N1 and N2 are directed at a substantially high external resistance in that they are immediately opposite the stacked-together ends of the documents. On the other hand, nozzle N3 sees very little external resistance in that the fluid flow is directed outwardly virtually unimpeded. in prior art devices using nozzles of the prior art design, the fluid flow for such an arrangement would have been unbalanced with the majority of the fluid being exhausted through nozzle N3, and very little fluid being exhausted through nozzle Ni and N2. However, with the high resistance nozzle of this invention, fluid flow through the nozzles remains relatively the same and there is little imbalance in the fluid flow from the manifold or chamber portion 24. The operation of fluid flow fl and f2 in combination with inherent vibration in the document handling apparatus will tend to cause the documents to separate until they reach the position illustrated in FIG. 2. Due to the relative equality of flow of fluid, there is iittie flutter imparted to the documents as they are caused to be positioned and retained in the spaced apart relationship. Since flutter is minimized, there is little, if any, abrasion of one document upon the other, thereby greatly increasing the life of the documents.

Documents that can be handled in this manner include punched cards, paper, and magnetic coated plastic card strips, or other well-known documents.

While the arrangement shown illustrates the documents in a vertical suspended arrangement, the operation of the nozzles and the separation of the documents will work equally well with the documents in a horizontal arrangement. it is necessary only to ad just the fluid pressure applied at arrow 26) in order to additionally lift the weight of the documents.

it should be understood that various elements, such as stops at the outer extremity to retain the documents in place, and other physical portions of the document handling apparatus have been omitted from this discussion so that the inventive concepts described herein can be clearly understood.

The foregoing detailed description of the invention, when taken in conjunction with the drawings, can be seen to have clearly set forth the stated objectives. it being understood that various modifications will become apparent to those skilled in the art, without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention, what is intended to be protected by Letters Patent is set forth in the appended claims.

l claim:

I. An improved nozzle arrangement for use in document handling apparatus wherein a plurality of documents are removeably retained in a side-by-side relationship, comprising: fluid chamber means for receiving pressurized fluid; and a plurality of fluid nozzle means mounted in a spaced-apart relationship on said chamber means and in fluid communication therewith for causing adjacent documents to be separated and to be maintained separated by fluid flow from respective ones of said nozzle means, the subsonic fluid flow in each of said nozzle means being substantially indepen dent of external resistance to said fluid flow and said spaced-apart relationship being selected for determining said spacing between said adjacent documents.

2. An improved nozzle arrangement as in claim 1 wherein each of said fluid nozzle means includes input means coupled to said fluid chamber means for receiving fluid flow therefrom; and throat means having predetermined length and uniform cross-section dimensions, said length dimension being substantially greater than said cross-section dimensions for rendering the subsonic rate of fluid flow through said throat dimensions substantially independent of external resistance to said fluid flow.

3. An improved nozzle arrangemet as in claim 2, wherein said cross-section dimensions include depth and width dimensions, said length dimension being at least one hundred times greater than said depth dimension.

4. An improved document handling apparatus including in combination a plurality of documents arranged in a side-by-side relationship, each of said documents having coded end-portions for permitting independent selection of any one of said documents; document retaining means in cooperation with said coded end-portions for removeably retaining said documents in said side-by-side relationship; document selection means coupled to said document retaining means for selecting predetermined ones of said documents; fluid chamber means for receiving pressurized fluid; and a plurality of fluid nozzle means mounted in a spacedapart relationship on said chamber means and in fluid communication therewith, said plurality of fluid nozzle means being directed upon and in fluidic cooperation with said coded end-portions for causing adjacent documents to be separated and to be maintained separated by fluid flow from respective ones of said nozzle means, the fluid flow in each of said nozzle means being substantially independent of external resistance to said fluid flow.

5. An improved document handling apparatus as in claim 4 wherein each of said fluid nozzle means includes input means coupled to said fluid chamber means for receiving fluid flow therefrom; and throat means coupled to said input means and in fluid communication therewith, said throat means having a predetermined length and uniform cross-section dimensions, said length dimension being substantially greater than said cross-section dimensions for rendering the rate of fluid flow through said throat means substantially independent of external resistance to said fluid flow.

6. An improved document handling apparatus as in claim 5 wherein said cross-section dimensions includes depth and width dimensions, said length dimension being at least one hundred times greater than said depth dimension.

7. An improved document handling apparatus as in claim 6 wherein said spaced-apart relationship is selected for determining said spacing between said adjacent documents. 

1. An improved nozzle arrangement for use in document handling apparatus wherein a plurality of documents are removeably retained in a side-by-side relationship, comprising: fluid chamber means for receiving pressurized fluid; and a plurality of fluid nozzle means mounted in a spaced-apart relationship on said chamber means and in fluid communication therewith for causing adjacent documents to be separated and to be maintained separated by fluid flow from respective ones of said nozzle means, the subsonic fluid flow in each of said nozzle means being substantially independent of external resistance to said fluid flow and said spaced-apart relationship being selected for determining said spacing between said adjacent documents.
 2. An improved nozzle arrangement as in claim 1 wherein each of said fluid nozzle means includes input means coupled to said fluid chamber means for receiving fluid flow therefrom; and throat means having predetermined length and uniform cross-section dimensions, said length dimension being substantially greater than said cross-section dimensions for rendering the subsonic rate of fluid flow through said throat dimensions substantially independent of external resistance to said fluid flow.
 3. An improved nozzle arrangemet as in claim 2, wherein said cross-section dimensions include depth and width dimensions, said length dimension being at least one hundred times greater than said depth dimension.
 4. An improved document handling apparatus including in combination a plurality of documents arranged in a side-by-side relationship, each of said documents having coded end-portions for permitting independent selection of any one of said documents; document retaining means in cooperation with said coded end-portions for removeably retaining said documents in said side-by-side relationship; document selection means coupled to said document retaining means for selecting predetermined ones of said documents; fluid chamber means for receiving pressurized fluid; and a plurality of fluid nozzle means mounted in a spaced-apart relationship on said chamber means and in fluid communication therewith, said plurality of fluid nozzle means being directed upon and in fluidic cooperation with said coded end-portions for causing adjacent documents to be separated and to be maintained separated by fluid flow from respective ones of said nozzle means, the fluid flow in each of said nozzle means being substantially independent of external resistance to said fluid flow.
 5. An improved document handling apparatus as in claim 4 wherein each of said fluid nozzle means includes input means coupled to said fluid chamber means for receiving fluid flow therefrom; and throat means coupled to said input means and in fluid communication therewith, said throat means having a predetermined length and uniform cross-section dimensions, said length dimension being substantially greater than said cross-section dimensions for rendering the rate of fluid flow through said throat means substantially independent of external resistance to said fluid flow.
 6. An improved document handling apparatus as in claim 5 wherein said cross-section dimensions includes depth and width dimensions, said length dimension being at least one hundred times greater than said depth dimension.
 7. An improved document handling apparatus as in claim 6 wherein said spaced-apart relationship is selected for determining said spacing between said adjacent documents. 